ZS Overman

HomePosts Tagged – ZS Overman

S6 E235 The Wild World of TikTok Machinima (July 2026)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes July 15, 2026 Leave a reply

This week, Phil takes the crew on an unexpected tour through the strange and rapidly evolving world of TikTok, presenting a curated compilation of game-inspired videos that blur the boundaries between machinima, gameplay, performance and digital art. Rather than searching for polished cinematic productions, the discussion explores the platform’s distinctive culture of short-form creative expression, where humour, experimentation and disposable entertainment coexist with moments of genuine artistic innovation.

Ricky and Damien join Phil to examine the compilation, discussing everything from live-action recreations of video game scenarios and AI NPC comedy to intricate gameplay demonstrations that resemble elaborate Rube Goldberg machines. The conversation also considers the darker side of viral gaming content, questioning the prevalence of violence and spectacle while reflecting on what these trends reveal about online audiences and contemporary digital culture.

Among the highlights are a striking retro-inspired animated artist known as Perfect Loop, whose nostalgic visual experiments stand out amid TikTok’s constant stream of content, and discussions of creators such as Viva La Dirt League, whose game-inspired comedy continues to influence online gaming entertainment.

The hosts debate whether TikTok represents a genuine new frontier for machinima and virtual production, or simply another algorithm-driven platform where discovering exceptional work requires patience and persistence. Along the way they reflect on changing audience habits, creator communities, and whether short-form video is expanding, or narrowing, the possibilities for creative storytelling.

Watch Phil’s featured TikTok compilation and join the discussion: have you discovered innovative machinima or virtual production creators on TikTok? Let us know in the comments.

Audio Only Version of This Episode



YouTube Version of This Episode

https://youtu.be/ZF-Q5XVcnaw

Show Notes & Links

Phil’s compilation available on Vimeo here –

Maker Series E3: Phil’s Music Notes – [Horror] Intervals

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes October 23, 2025 Leave a reply

🕯️ Maker Series: Phil’s Music Notes – [Horror] Intervals 👻
🎃 A pre-Halloween special exploring the dark side of sound.

At its core, music is a game of intervals — the spaces between notes that define every melody, every emotion. Even without musical training, we instinctively recognize the cheerful sound of a major chord or the melancholy of a minor. But some intervals go far beyond sad or happy… some are unnerving, unsettling, even evil.

In this pre-Halloween edition of Phil’s Music Notes, we dive into the tritone, the infamous “Devil’s Interval.” Once banned by tradition and feared for its dissonance, this interval has haunted music for centuries — from John Williams’ shark-infested tension in Jaws, to John Carpenter’s chilling Halloween theme, to the thunder of Holst’s Mars, the chaos of Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and the heavy riffs of Black Sabbath and Metallica. 🎸

But there’s more to this sinister sound — it’s also at the heart of jazz harmony. Those lush, complex 7th chords you hear? They’re built on the same mysterious tritone. The very interval once deemed forbidden became the key to modern expression.

In this episode, we’ll explore how this interval transformed from symbol of darkness to a cornerstone of musical color — and how you can use it to bring new life (or afterlife 👀) to your own compositions.

List of works –

Audio only version of this episode –



YouTube verson of this episode –

S5 E182 Machinima News Omnibus (May 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes May 14, 2025 Leave a reply

Our monthly roundup of all things we enjoy about this crazy world of machinima.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Projects

AFK’s Season 3 Star Wars Parody ‘supercut’, created in UE5 –

Second Life’s Fantasy Faire, Pryda Parx Studio’s run through covers 18 regions in total – as ever, great work by everyone being showcased –

and here is the Fantasy Faire Second Life YouTube channel for videos submitted to the Film Festival Machinima Competition, hosted by Chantal Harvey

The GTA6 new trailer release… check out Brian in the first few seconds!

Mans1ay3r’s Skyrim short, called Beware the Daughter of the Troll – a Bard’s Tale, a really stunning song, beautifully produced –

and ToCoSo’s song called If We All Haul Together, celebrating the community is Elite Dangerous –

Drunk Physicist’s Mission on a Tiny Planet – available on Instagram here

genAI updates

AI Animation Contest winners hosted by Curious Refuge, supported by Promise Studios and Luma AI – the show reel is worth a run through –

Films made with AI will be eligible for the Oscars, although decision-making will of course consider its role and that of human creators – article here

Flawless’ Watch the Skies AI dubbing technology is a Swedish scifi that’s now acceptable to those who can’t speak the language – impressive stuff –

Runway’s Gen-4 is also worth taking a look at, producing multiple styles for a single character –

Sora AI‘s Red Dead Redemption 2 1970s style Western Movie –

Phil’s AI copyright discussion link for Suno AI –

Tools & Resources

Reallusion’s CC5 teaser

and Solomon Jagwe‘s thoughts –

A new Star Wars game afoot?

How to create smart hair –

April Phil

Minecraft Speedrunner vs 3 Hunters –

and don’t forget to check out Phil’s latest machinima series, Ralph & Chuck –

S5 E173 Machinima News Omnibig (Mar 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes March 13, 2025 Leave a reply

This is our regular monthly news update on things relevant to the world of machinima. Catch the episode on audio only or on YouTube – links below



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Esoterica‘s dysUTOPIA –

Hamilton made in Animal Crossing by GK Animations –

Cinematic of No Man’s Sky by EvilDr.Porkchop –

Phil’s Chuck Norris vs 50K Cavemen made in Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 –

John Gaeta’s Escape.ai platform for emerging artists is now in beta.

At All Costs (by Studio Far Out Games) –

Second Life AI character designer tool –

Project Odyssey awards ceremony and links to the winners, worth checking out –

BBC Radiophonic Workshop release link here

Valve’s TF2 client and server game code released, link here to article

Dune: Awakening game release trailer –

Tetris on AppleTV, trailer –

Liberty City (GTA4) ported to GTA5 –

John Martin II (Reallusion/iClone) on using Kling AI for character animation –


https://www.facebook.com/Animize/videos/608758092044056/?rdid=kMPddm0tlBjC6h4o&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2Fv%2F1BepaNLxzD%2F

Nvidia Omniverse Launcher update, link here

S5 E172 GTA San Andreas: The Days After (Mar 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes March 6, 2025 Leave a reply

This week we review a ‘golden age’ machinima, starring none other than Ricky Grove playing ‘Bogart’, and Ingrid Moon playing err, ‘Ingrid’, with Phil having created the score and Ricky having produced the sound design. Its a short by German-American creator, Andre Pesch aka ‪@albi84‬ called The Days After, made in GTA San Andreas. Its a story that pre-2020 probably we’d have all said, simply, yep that was great, without any real appreciation for what is actually being portrayed in this 2006 film. However, there’s a sense in which this now brings back memories of lockdowns and isolation, and the fear of an unknown viral menace devastating our lives. It perfectly illustrates the narrow grip many had on reality, as Ricky observes in this “… war, crime, patriotism – you can name those things but you can never fix them.”



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

The Days After by Andre Pesch, released 2006 – on his channel here

and the Machiniplex Remaster by Phil Rice here –

‹  Older posts